Samsung Motors (also known as SMI) was built on the will of the Samsung group's chairman, Kun Hee Lee, who regarded the automotive industry as a sum of many industries. For the group, this would have meant the co-operation and binding together of its many subsidiaries, such as Samsung Electrics and Samsung Electronics. Nevertheless, his plan was cut short by the Asian financial crisis, and soon after its establishment, the group jettisoned SMI, together with other non-core subsidiaries. SMI was up for sale, firstly to Daewoo Motors, which was itself hit by the same crisis and was bought by GM. Hyundai Motors was also considered as a suitor, but politics and strife between Samsung group and Hyundai group made this impossible.

Coupled with his personal affection for cars, Mr. Lee's dream of building SMI as a global force started out with technical assistance from Nissan, a company which at the time of SMI's early stages was in dire financial straits. SMI's affiliation with Nissan could have been one of the reasons for Renault buying a major share of the company, as Renault had become a major shareholder of Nissan by then. One of the very early planners for SMI has stated that technical affiliations for SMI were initially considered with either Volkswagen or Honda. However, its financial situation had forced Nissan to disclose its technology and engineering expertise to SMI. Also, Nissan has supplied SMI with its engines, one of them being Nissan's famed V6 engines the VQ25DE, currently replaced by the VQ35DE.

Present

Today, Renault Samsung Motors (henceforth RSM) maintains a good position within the Korean automotive market, with its SM5 vehicle continuing to hold its ground against competitors[citation needed]. Also, RSM is in the phase of changing its products from a Nissan based architecture to a Renault based one. For example, the next generation of Megane will take over the Nissan Sylphy as the base for SM3. Also, according to the development trend of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, gasoline engines will be continued to be provided by Nissan, whereas diesel engines will be provided by Renault. In addition, QM5(a cross over vehicle; code name: H45) was co-developed with Nissan (who is also using the QM5 as the basis for its next Xtrail, code name P32M). It is being sold in Korea, Europe & China, and more new vehicles are planned in the future. This will increase the current company production capacity of 125,000~130,000 units to around 250,000 by 2010, as much of the increased production will target BRICs countries such as China, Russia, and also parts of Europe.

As Renault does not have any R&D center and have a few factories in Asia, RSM will spearhead the Renault's expansion efforts into the rapidly developing Asian market. Also, it should be noted that Renault is continuing the use of 'Samsung' name until 2020[1] under a license agreement with the Samsung group. It remains to be seen how long Samsung will allow the use of its brand to RSM, and how it will play its remaining 19.9% of shares. However, as the value of Samsung's brand continues to increase, Renault's desire to associate its brand in regions where Renault's brand is weak is considerable: recent events of Renault's attempts at associating itself with GM[citation needed] could be seen in the same context, as Renault does not have any presence in North America since its exit in the 1980s.

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